Paronomasia
by Shini02
Summary: Ficlet. par·o·no·ma·sia: noun; a play on words; a pun. Rex doesn't share Louie's sense of humor.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own We're Back, I'm just playing with someone else's toys. As per usual.

**A/N:** This was supposed to be a drabble, but apparently I can't drabble anymore. This was also inspired by all those silly dinosaur thesaurus gag panels out there.

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**Paronomasia**

He had been living in New York long enough to know by now that not everyone would take so kindly to Tyrannosaurus Rex wandering around the city in the middle of the night. Years ago, the mismatched and wayward herd he'd found himself a part of had lucked out when they met Louie and Cecilia. Those two children had been some of the most open-minded human beings they had ever come to know. It was true that they all still displayed themselves at the museum, but the reaction there had become expected. The children that came to see them were the ones that wished and dreamed of nothing more than to see real, live dinosaurs. When they revealed themselves, the children, newcomers and frequent visitors alike, were hardly ever scared.

So, it went without saying that when unsuspecting adults happened upon them, in or out of what could be considered their natural habitats now, the reaction wasn't always pleasant. Most wound up screaming and running, a few took to fainting, and every now and then there was someone who laughed and talked themselves out of what they were seeing, carrying on like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Thankfully, there had never been a repeat of the parade, or an incident that even came close to that.

However, this young man in particular was worrying Rex to some degree. The others hadn't come out tonight, and so it was only he and Louie wandering the outskirts of the city. Or, at least, that had been the plan. They hadn't expected to meet anybody out here, so far away from the rest of the city. But, if there was one thing Rex had come to learn quickly during his time in the city and in the 20th century, it was that it was always best to expect the unexpected.

Now, if only this stranger had the same mindset. Maybe then, when he bumped into Louie, and then looked _up_ to see Rex behind him, he wouldn't have wound up in such a troubled state. He wasn't screaming, wasn't trying to run, wasn't laughing or talking to himself. In fact, Rex was pretty sure he was having trouble remembering to breathe, given the way he was just standing there, fish-mouthed and gaping at him.

"...is he alright?" he asked, and the question was directed at Louie, whom seemed to be a little more amused than he was worried.

"What? Yeah, don't sweat it," he shrugged and stepped closer to the stranger, waving a hand in front of his face. "He's just a little surprised, that's all."

"I think he's more than a little surprised," Rex noted, leaning down to be a little closer to Louie, and the young man. "I think he's in shock."

"Well, get your face outta his face!" Louie snapped, shoving an elbow back at Rex's snout. The dinosaur, however, didn't budge.

Instead, he furrowed his brow and stared hard at the young man. "Breathe," he instructed, hoping that would help. The man in front of him did, at the very least, gasp.

"That's good! Inhale..."

The young man took another, sharper breath.

"Exhale," Rex said.

Either because he could no longer contain his hitched breath, or because he was cooperating with the tyrannosaur, the stranger exhaled.

"Good! Use your lungs."

The young man did, in fact, begin to take slow, steady breaths. Clearly, seeing a living, talking dinosaur had been too much for him.

"What're you, a T-Rex or a _thesaurus_?" Louie quipped, twisting to shove both hands against Rex's snout, urging him to lean back up. While he didn't really care about this stranger's well-being, he did think it was probably in everybody's best interest if Rex leaned up and away from him. Once Rex did this, the stranger finally turned on his heel and made a beeline into the opposite direction. He still didn't scream, but at the very least, he was breathing much more than he had seemed to be when he happened upon the pair. In fact, for one moment, Rex worried he would overwork his lungs.

Then what Louie had said sunk in, and he turned his gaze away from the retreating, shocked stranger, down to the human teenager by his feet.

"That wasn't funny."


End file.
